Latest News & Market Updates

6 REASONS YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING

6 reasons your home is not selling can be remedied with some quick changes. With the goal of selling your home in mind, it may be time to implement a better strategy to help your agent get it done.

Are you ready to sell your home? Maybe your home has been listed for a few weeks or months, and you cannot figure out why it just will not sell. You know your agent is working hard to market it. Is there a fix for this?

Listed below are the top 6 reasons your home may not make a good impression, and end up stagnant on the market.

1. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE IT’S OVERPRICED

An overpriced house is the #1 reason a home will not sell. It is natural to want your home to be worth a lot more than it actually is, because you know it and love it. A home must be priced according to the current market data, and not a price that you wish it would bring. Telling your agent that you “must have x amount” out of a home, when the price cannot be supported by the data, will lead to failure. The market “is what it is”, and you will have to adjust your thinking to reality.

You and your agent do not control the current real estate market, but how you react to it, can mean success or failure with your home sale. Adjust your thinking to the actual market value of your current home. Price it correctly, or your home will sit on the market for months, getting very few showings. If you price it to allow for too much “wiggle room”, statistics show that views of your property from buyers in your price range, can drop a whopping 90%. Discuss with your agent what the true market value of your home is. Price it competitively, and you may end up with a bidding frenzy, instead of low offers, or an expired listing.

Perhaps you have thought, I will “just take it off the market until the value comes up”. If your home value increases, so will the value of the next home you will want to purchase. Your home systems, roof, and decor trends will be older, so competing against new construction will become much tougher. In 2018, new construction is predicted to be a big factor in housing. Price it right now, and get it sold!

2. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE OF LOW SHOWING AVAILABILITY

Making sure the house is always clean, and leaving whenever buyers want to tour your home, may get a little overwhelming. It is crucial that you make your home available to show, as needed. If not, you could end up missing out on the perfect buyer. The longer it sits on the market, the less value buyers will see in it. Talk with your agent about having a 24 hour notice period, if the extra time is needed, but make sure your home is available to be shown as often as possible. Inconvenience is just part of the process. The reward will be a home sale.

3. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE YOU HAVE A CLUTTERED SPACE

Buyers want to walk into a house and envision their lives in that home. This is difficult to do if your home is cluttered with personal belongings. They are instantly given the feeling of invading your personal space, instead of the satisfaction of being able to see a future in your home. Make sure your property is clutter free before putting it on the market; and store away any family photos. Make every space available to view. Do not throw everything into a junk room that no one is allowed to view. I have seen sellers tape a picture of a room on a locked door, forbidding entrance. If buyers cannot see it all, they will not purchase.

4. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE OF UNPLEASANT ODORS

If you smoke or have pets, it is easy to get used to the smell and be unable to detect it anymore. It is important to understand that any new people visiting your home will be able to smell it, making it unlikely that you will get an offer. Before a showing, make sure to dispose of garbage, do not cook fish or other strong smelling food, and ensure there are no pet or smoke odors. Put away litter boxes, and please do not leave a gauntlet of “wee wee” pads for buyers to walk through.

5. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE YOU ARE UNWILLING TO MAKE REPAIRS

Selling your home “as-is” may sound appealing at first, but being unwilling to make repairs could cost you another mortgage payment. That payment could far exceed the cost of repairs you refused make in buyer requests, causing your home to be placed on the market again. Be open to repair requests. Discuss what you can afford to do with your agent, and make a reasonable counter offer during the repair negotiations.

6. YOUR HOME IS NOT SELLING BECAUSE YOU ARE UNWILLING TO NEGOTIATE WITH BUYERS

It is important to have an open mind about requests that will come from buyers when it comes to purchasing your home. These requests can come in the form of price negotiations, repair requests, or even requests to cover closing costs or home warranties. Have your trusted agent advise you of the best steps to take. Be open to working with the buyers on some of their requests to ensure a successful closing.

About the Author

Shannon Holmes

Shannon Holmes has been featured in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, as well as many other media platforms, for her real estate expertise. Shannon loves new technology, and is an expert at using that technology to have the most effective real estate marketing possible. Shannon services the Greater Birmingham Alabama areas of the Highway 280 Corridor, Mountain Brook, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Chelsea, Helena, Pelham, and Alabaster. Shannon can be reached at (205) 706-3975, or by email at [email protected]

Current Mortgage Rates

Recent Posts

About The Holmes Team

If you demand the best,
“The Shannon Holmes Team” should be your Realtors®

Years of experience selling and marketing properties, top negotiation skills, desire to do what is best for their clients, and a driving need to always exceed their client’s expectations, are why you should choose The Shannon Holmes Team to be your REALTORS®. A dedicated team of real estate experts, “The Holmes Team”...Read More

Testimonial

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE HOLMES TEAM...PLEASED WITH KNOWLEDGE & EXPERTISE

I have known Shannon and Gerry Holmes for many years and knew that I could trust Shannon to be my agent. She spent many hours advising and touring...

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Local knowledge:

Expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Kelli Beard, Greystone, Hoover, AL

Shannon has my strongest recommendation

We had an amazing home buying experience with Shannon Holmes and Realty South! Leaving active duty and expecting twins we were in a whirlwind of...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Cason and Shelley Roberson, Hoover, AL

Best Realtor Ever... Shannon was beyond awesome

We were not looking for a house when God brought Shannon to us! Now we have our forever home and loving it more everyday! Shannon was beyond awesome,...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Denise and Jess Dixon, Chelsea area

Shannon is an EXCELLENT Realtor!

Shannon is an EXCELLENT Realtor!! We moved from over 900 miles away, and on a day's notice she met with us - on a weekend - to start our search for...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Matthew and Jennifer Allison, Sterrett Alabama

Shannon is amazing! Her marketing is so complete, I found her from 3,000 miles away!

Shannon is amazing!
My family relocated to Birmingham from Seattle. Having never visited the city before, given a four day weekend to find a home...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Carol and Chris Bevil, Greystone Subdivision, Hoover, Alabama

Recommendation from the lender worked in our favor...she was an incredible Realtor

We are so thankful for Shannon Holmes! Recommendation from the lender turned out to work in our favor as she was an incredible Realtor. Having 4 Kids...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Mitchel and Nicole Jeffers, Hoover, AL

"Shannon saved us a significant amount of money..We would recommend her to anyone"

We moved from Chicago to Birmingham two years ago and did not know the marketplace, the area, or our time frame for buying. Shannon was great at...

Local knowledge:

Process expertise:

Responsiveness:

Negotiation skills:

Highly likely to recommend

5.0

Dennis and Marilyn Pauls, Greystone Legacy, Hoover, Alabama

Video Client Testimonial of Richard and Cheryl Brewer

Video Client Testimonial of Richard and Cheryl Brewer with Shannon Holmes of Realtysouth as the listing agent.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Pin It on Pinterest

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!